North Korea 'will send military personnel to Ukraine within a month' to boost Putin's forces - as Pyongyang warns of a 'new world war' after US aircraft carrier's arrival in the South
Moscow and Pyongyang have moved to deepen ties with so-called defence pact
By James Reynolds
Published: 04:35 EDT, 27 June 2024 | Updated: 09:35 EDT, 27 June 2024
North Korea has pledged to send military personnel to Ukraine within a month to support Putin's war-weary forces as both sides struggle to make a decisive breakthrough.
Pyongyang will take an unprecedented step in sending construction and engineering forces to occupied territories of Ukraine as early as July to assist in rebuilding work, South Korea's TV Chosun reported earlier, citing a government official.
The rare vow of foreign support follows president Vladimir Putin's official state visit to North Korea earlier this month - the first in almost a quarter of a century - which culminated in the signing of a so-called defence pact on June 19.
The treaty binds its signatories to providing 'military and other assistance with all means in its possession without delay' should either find itself 'put in a state of war by an armed invasion'.
North Korea is believed to have already supplied Russia with about 1.6mn artillery shells between August and January as Moscow continues to hammer populated areas of Ukraine and tries to make decisive gains in the north.
As polarisation hardens, Pyongyang officials criticised the United States on Monday for its expanding military assistance to Ukraine and dispatch of an aircraft carrier to South Korea, warning it could provoke a 'new world war', according to state media.